Victor Hernández Cruz
Victor Hernández Cruz (born: February 6, 1949) is a Puerto Rican poet who in 1969 became the 1st Hispanic to be published by a mainstream U.S. publishing house.Aparicio, Frances R. "Victor Hernández Cruz." Heath Anthology of American Literature, Fifth Edition. Paul Lauter, General Editor. Cengage Online Study Center. Accessed January 10, 2010. In 1981, Life magazine counted him among America's greatest poets. "Hispanic Firsts", By; Nicolas Kanellos, publisher Visible Ink Press; ISBN 0-7876-0519-0; p.40 Life Youth Hernández Cruz was born in Aguas Buenas, Puerto Rico. In 1954, his family moved to New York City and lived in Spanish Harlem. There he received his primary and secondary education. He began to write poetry while he attended Benjamin Franklin High School. Career During his high school years he wrote various poems, including "Snaps". In 1969, Random House published "Snaps" and the following year his poetry began to appear in various magazines such as Evergreen Review and New York Review of Books. In 1970, Hernández Cruz worked with New York's "Poetry-in-the-school" program. He moved to San Francisco in 1973 and served as a visiting poet in various colleges. From 1973 to 1975, he read and performed his works as a traveling troubadour covering much of the United States. Hernández Cruz is a distinguished member of the famed Nuyorican school of poets (also referred to as the Nuyorican Movement). Hernández Cruz tweaks syntactic conventions of English and Spanish to communicate his own voice. He was Chancellor of the Academy of American Poets.Victor Hernandez Cruz, Academy of American Poets, Poets.org.Reuben, Paul P. "Chapter 10: Victor Hernandez Cruz." PAL: Perspectives in American Literature - A Research and Reference Guide. June 10, 2009. Accessed January 10, 2010. Writing Allen Ginsberg: "Poesy news from space anxiety police age inner city, spontaneous urban American language as Williams wished, high school street consciousness transparent, original soul looking out intelligent Bronx windows." Recognition Hernández Cruz received fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts and the Guggenheim Foundation. In 1981, the April issue of Life Magazine proclaimed Hernández Cruz a National Treasure when they included his name amongst the greatest American poets. He is the 1st Hispanic in the US to have this honor bestowed on. His collection Maraca: New and selected poems, 1966-2000, was shortlisted for the 2002 International Griffin Poetry Prize. He has received Guggenheim Foundation and National Endowment for the Arts fellowships. Publicationss * Papo Got His Gun. 1966 (chapbook). * Snaps, Random House. 1969. * * * * See also *Nuyorican poets * List of U.S. poets References Notes External links ;Poems * Victor Hernandez Cruz profile and 6 poems at the Academy of American Poets. * Victor Hernandez Cruz b. 1949 at the Poetry Foundation ;Audio / video *Griffin Poetry Prize reading, including video clip ;Books *Victor Hernandez Cruz at Amazon.com * ;About *Griffin Poetry Prize biography *Victor Hernandez Cruz at the Banff Centre *Online interview with author on Letras Latinas Oral History Project Category:1949 births Category:American poets Category:Living people Category:People from Aguas Buenas, Puerto Rico Category:Puerto Rican poets Category:Puerto Rican writers Category:20th-century poets Category:21st-century poets Category:English-language poets Category:Poets Category:Nuyorican poets